Amber Glasses: Write Late, Sleep Well

Call it writer’s insomnia: You’re on a roll, writing for hours, late into the night. Finally, exhausted but accomplished, you save your work, back it up, switch off the computer, and fall into bed.

And then you stare at the darkness for an hour or more before finally nodding off. It’s so frustrating! You’re exhausted, so why can’t you go to sleep? Is your story too exciting? Are your characters too insistent?

Maybe. Or maybe it’s the blue light shining out of your computer screen and straight into your eyes.

Several recent scientific studies have demonstrated a connection between blue artificial light and insomnia. Early forms of artificial light — candles, campfires, and oil lamps — emit wavelengths only in the red, orange, and yellow parts of the spectrum. Sunlight contains the full range of visible wavelengths, from the longest (red) through the shortest (violet). Until the invention of gaslight a couple of centuries ago, the only regular source of blue wavelengths was sunlight. This was such a reliable signal that the human body uses blue light to know when it’s time to stay awake. Blue light suppresses melatonin, the hormone that tells you to go to sleep.

Which brings us back to your computer screen, throwing blue light at your eyes and possibly keeping you awake until you’ve been in the dark long enough to produce the melatonin you need to fall asleep.

Fortunately, there’s a simple solution you can try, and it does not involve swallowing any sleeping pills, like diphenhydramine or melatonin supplements. You just have to be willing to look like a total dork for a couple of hours before you go to bed.

My husband bought me a pair of these about six months ago, when I routinely couldn’t fall asleep or stay asleep, even though I was exhausted. He isn’t affected by light as much as I am, but he got himself a pair too. The results have been amazing. I put them on anywhere from an hour to two hours before I plan to go to bed. Then I read, write, use the computer, check my phone, watch television—anything that I would usually do in the evening. When I go to bed, I remove the glasses (both pairs) after I switch off the light. Most nights, I go right to sleep and stay asleep until it’s time to get up. Even when I get fewer than seven or eight hours of sleep, I wake up reasonably well refreshed. My husband, who has no trouble sleeping anytime, anywhere, discovered that he is more likely to remember his dreams after wearing his amber glasses before bedtime—evidence of higher-quality REM sleep.

So give them a try. They’re amazingly affordable (see links below). And if you’re still lying awake after a late-night writing session? Well, maybe you should blame your characters.

Books (on night and light, not amber glasses)

At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past by A. Roger Ekirch: Historian presents evidence that humans used to sleep, not in one eight-hour stretch, but in two four-hour chunks with a period of wakefulness between.

Reblogged this on Christopher Peter and commented:
Interesting article! I may try these, especially after my next late-night writing session. Generally I sleep OK but not quite as well as I used to, and that may partly be because I spend so much time staring at screens of one sort or another now. Also might help with my upcoming trip to India – got terrible jet-lag last time …

Thanks so much for your informative, well-researched article. I’ve just ordered a pair of each, so I can use one in the studio too, since they are safety glasses. Major UV issues in the studio too, as you know. Your article is helping lots of people, so you get lots of points for this!

I’ll be interested in hearing your results. The thing that amazes me is how simple it is, and noninvasive. Unlike sleeping aids, your kidneys and liver don’t have to be involved at all. Even if your sleep aid of choice is just a glass of milk…

Thanks for stopping by, Sarah! I was careful to phrase it as “this works well for me” because I know it does not have the same results for everyone. But given my science background, I also like to provide sources when stating scientific claims. Good luck with your amber goggles.

Interesting… I prefer the simpler solution though of turning off my mobile phone and laptop an hour before I need to sleep! It’s a better example to set for my children too, who will in the near future be accessing these

Yes that helps too! But it doesn’t do anything for the room lights. I have issues even with those. As for setting an example… I am sorry to report that when my children reached middle school and high school their homework often kept them staring at a screen until bedtime. 😦